Scarborough A - Z
The A - Z is an alphabetical guide to people, places and events relating to theatre - with an emphasis on theatre in the round - in Scarborough. This is an ongoing project, produced in association with the Encyclopaedia at www.alanayckbourn.net with new content being regularly added. To begin exploring, click on a letter in the right hand column below.R
A - Z
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Relatively Speaking: Alan Ayckbourn's 7th play premiered at Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre, Scarborough, on 8 July 1965 under the title Meet My Father. When it later opened ay the Duke Of York's Theatre, London, on 29 March 1967, it became his breakout success, instantly propelling the playwright to fame and success. Royalties generated from the West End productions of Alan Ayckbourn's plays were vital to keeping Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre solvent and financially viable during the 1960s and 1970s.
Resnais, Alain: Alain Resnais (1922 - 2014) was an acclaimed and award-winning French film-director who was a long-time fan of Alan Ayckbourn's plays and adapted three of them into films. Smoking / No Smoking (1994) adapted Intimate Exchanges; Coeurs (2006) adapted Private Fears In Public Places; Aimer, Boire et Chanter (2014) adapted from Life Of Riley in 2014. He frequently visited Scarborough during the 1980s and 1990s to see the world premieres of Ayckbourn's play and even married his wife, the actress Sabine Azéma, in the town. At the time of his death, he was working on the script for a fourth Ayckbourn adaptation, Arrivées Et Départs, based on Arrivals & Departures.
Robinson, Paul: Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, since 1 June 2016.
Rotunda Museum: Opened in 1829, the Rotunda Museum is one of the world’s first purpose-built museums and was built to a design suggested by William Smith. The interior, with its fascinating Georgian gallery, features a frieze showing the geology of the local coastline designed by Smith’s nephew, John Phillips. When Theatre in the Round at the Library Theatre opened in 1955, a number of newspaper reports commented on the fact the town now had both a theatre in the round and a museum in the round. The Rotunda is part of Scarborough Museums and Galleries.
The Round: The main performance space at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. The auditorium seats 406 people and, when built, was unique in the UK as being an in-the-round stage whose acting space was built on a stage lift (allowing quick change of plays in repertory and sets to be built up from a dropped stage) and having an innovative lighting mesh that allows complete and easy access at all times to the lighting grid. The design almost exactly matches the proportions of the company's previous venue, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round, except the present theatre has an extra row of seats.
Rounders: A youth drama group based at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in the Round and later the Stephen Joseph Theatre. Founded in 1978 by Tessa Harrison for any 7 - 12 year olds interested in drama, it was a huge success and expanded over the years to include young people from 5 - 18 years old. In 2023, Rounders was replaced by the Stephen Joseph Youth Theatre and replaced its open policy with auditions.
Routh, Caroline: Chief Executive of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, since 2019.
Royal Opera House: See Opera House.
Royal Pantheon Music Hall: See Prince of Wales Theatre.
The Scarborough: A - Z section of the website is created in collaboration with Alan Ayckbourn's Official Website. Original research is by Simon Murgatroyd and copyright of the author. Please credit this website if reproducing the information.